How do you write your story?
Welcome to our March Newsletter.
I hope this finds you safe and well. This month we combine the celebrations of books with the month, which serves as a reminder of gender inequality (to us, also a prompt to think about moving away from the idea of binary gender altogether towards kinder humanity). People of all genders have used storytelling for centuries. Some stories were published, others written on paper and sent by post or noted in a personal journal, but the idea of writing our story and using the stories for inspiration and healing feels central to who we are as a species.
This month, I encourage you to spend a moment thinking about the storytelling aspect of digital wellbeing. How do you use digital platforms to shape your story? How do you connect with stories of your family, friends and your tribe? What reoccurring themes can you spot in your past challenges, but also opportunities and wins? What tales shaped you? And finally: what story/books related questions support your good digital wellbeing? List them, reflect on them, write them all down, post them online, and explore with your tribes.
Your individual story and our collective stories matter. Now, more than ever, we have so much access to publishing our stories. Let’s celebrate them all.
At Voxel Hub, we are posting about bibliotherapy, so if you like reading books, this maybe a good fit for your wellbeing.
We are enjoying reading the excellent contributions from Jess and Jo while we also welcome our third guest blogger, Margot (you can check her blog here). We are so excited to offer all their content to our clients and to the general public. We hope you will find those mental health and digital wellbeing ideas helpful.
I am preparing for the second round of my liberation psychologies course for the Iron Mill Counselling College in Exeter (info below) and starting to deliver our own online lectures (#VoxelHubTalks). Please, do give us a follow over on Eventbrite if you are interested in free digital wellbeing training.
We will have more exciting news to share soon, so stay tuned!
Have a good, soft and restful month!
My favourite topic this month
This month I am exploring female stories, especially in the world of Nature Connectedness:
Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival by Alice Vincent
Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden by Lulah Ellender
All My Wild Mothers: Motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden by Victoria Bennett
The Virago Book Of Women Gardeners by Deborah Kellaway
Gardening Women: Their Stories From 1600 to the Present by Catherine Horwood
If you have any recommendations on the topic, please let me know! Thank you!
Resources & Offerings
Jo posted an excellent article about sleep challenges the other day on our blog, which is a very relevant topic for many at the moment. Below is one of her tips:
“Below are some common unhelpful thoughts about sleep for each of the above categories and some ideas about how to change them:
- Consequences: “If I don’t get enough sleep tonight, I won’t be able to function tomorrow.”
Is this a fact or a fear? How true is this belief? Think about another time in the past when you felt sleepy or tired but were able to get through your day and complete tasks. What helped you during those occasions? It’s possible to have a few restless nights, wake up feeling tired and still perform adequately during the day, even if you’re not at your best.”
Check out her tips on managing unhelpful thoughts around sleep to improve our wellbeing here.
Upcoming events
I would like to invite you to my next online course on liberation psychologies for displaced peoples. It is available for donation, so hopefully, this way, we can make it accessible for you all. I hope to see you there on Friday, 23rd of June, during the UK Refugee Week. Please, join us and share it with your relevant friends:
https://bit.ly/DisplacedPeoples
Thank you for reading our Newsletter. Talk to us online, check out our blog and let us know what else you would like to see here in the upcoming months.
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Photo by Natalia Łyczko on Unsplash
